Detachable hinge-coupling for vehicles.



- Patented Dec. l8. I900. H. J. CHAMBERS. DETACHABLE HINGE COUPLING FORVEHICLES.

(Application filed June 20, 1900.]

(No Model.)

WITNESSES; @m M 2% XLWAJZ.

A T T ORNEY.

NITED' STATES HAMLINE JANES. CHAMBERS,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA.

DETACHABLE HINGE-COUPLING FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 664,234, dated December18, 1900.

Serial No. 21,027. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HAMLINE J ANES CHAM- BERS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Council Blufis, county of Pottawattamie, and Stateof Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in AntirattlingDetachable Hinge-Couplings for Vehicles, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in antirattling detachablehinge-couplings such as are ordinarily used to connect the thills andpoles to vehicles drawn by horses, but which may be applied to any artwhere it is desired to form a hinge connection; and it consists of twoparts or members suitably arranged to be fastened to theobjects desiredto be coupled together, one of which parts or members has a. socketenlarged at the bottom, the part containing said socket being round orcylindrical and slotted in one side to admit a round and forkedprojection formed upon the other part into said socket, and the two.

parts when thus engaged are hinged together within a limited angle ofmovement.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide a hinged couplingsuch as is ordinarily used to connect thills and poles to vehicles whichwill be capable of being detached by turning one member of thehinge-joint at an angle with the other to which it never reaches when inuse; second, to provide such a detachable hinge-coupling that will fittightly together and will not rattle or make a noise; third, to formsuch a coupling of two pieces of simple construction, and, fourth, toprovide such a coupling as will keep out sand and dust, thus preventingexcessive wear. These objects are attained by the device shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of onemember or part of the hinge and which will be designated as part Y. Fig.2 is the other member or part of the hinge in perspective, which will bedesignated as the socket X. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the two partsengaged, with the attaching projections a and b at right angles to eachother, a position which they may take when in use. Fig. 4 is across-section on the lineA B in Figs. 3 and 5, showing the parts coupledtogether. Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line C D, Fig. 4, of thecoupling.

Similar letters refer to similar parts and corresponding portions of theparts throughout the drawings.

The coupling consists of the two parts, made of suitable material, X andY, one part X of which has a socket enlarged at the bottom, formed witha cylindrical or round piece 61, having a suitable projection b forattaching the same to the axle of the vehicle or other desired object.The socket in the part X may be wholly conical or partially cylindrical,or it may be of other curved or irregular form in longitudinalcross-section, so that the bottom of the socket will be larger than theopening; but I prefer the form as shown in Fig. 5, partially a conicaland partially a cylindrical socket. At asuitable place, determined bythe angle of the members at which it is desired to use the coupling, theround or cylindrical portion 0? of the part X is slotted at e and 1',that part of the slot 6 being narrow and that part of the slot r of agreater width, equal to the diameter of a portion of the socket. Thepart Y, like the part X, has a suitable projection afor attachment tothe thill, pole, or other desired object, and at s a round pivotprojecting out and terminating in two flattened forks fand f, whichround pivot fits into the socket in d and which forks when slightlysprung together fit tightly in said socket, the said pivot s andforksfandf being so arranged as to slip easily into the respective slots1 and e in the part-d when the projection a is turned to the properangle with b. The part Y also has a flange or shoulder at g, whichcovers the end of the socket-piece cl, and extending out from thisflange or shoulder is an apron c, a part of which forms a semicircularcovering of the cylindrical or round part 01 and is formed to cover theslots r and c when'the projection a is at any angle with b which it maymake when in use. a

From this description, in which the drawings is intended forillustration of the principle of the invention and not for limitation,

it will easily be seen that if the thill, pole, or other connectedobject be turned so that the attaching projection a of the part Yreaches an angle with the attaching projection b of the part X notreached by said parts a and b when in use and the forksfandf are slippedinto the slot 6 and the round part 8 into the slot 1* and the part withthe thill, pole, or other attached object be turned back into the rangeof the angle h i, Fig. 4, within which it hinges when in use, and into aposition shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, the forksf and f, which are spreadapart at the ends, making them slightly larger than the diameter of thecorresponding place in the socket, are sprung together by reason of thefork f being slightly beveled or rounded on the top edges. These forksfand f are sutficiently elastic to press out tightly against the innersurface of the socket in dand remain under tension,thus preventiiig theparts rattling or making a noise, and at the same time by reason of theshape of the socket, as is shown in Fig. 5, said forksf and f tend todraw the flange or shoulder g of the part Y up tightly to the end of thesocket in d of the part X, thus preventing side rattle, motion, ornoise. The apron 0 extends o ver the slots 6 and r and around oppositethe same, keeping out sand and dirt and preventing the pivot .5- fromslipping back out of the slot 0' when such tendency is caused by forceexerted upon it. By turning the thill, pole, or other attached object upor back to a point which it never reaches when in use or bya reversal ofthe movement used to engage the parts the thill, pole, or otherattachedobject may be easily released from the other by lifting the member Y andthe pivot s and the forksf and f thereof up and out of the slots 1' and6 provided for that purpose, thus making the said parts easilydetachable.

Iain aware that detachable thill connections have been made prior to myinvention thereof; but I am not aware that they have been made 'in thepivot-and-socket form and as simply 'formed to prevent rattling as myinvention.

I claim, therefore, and wish to secure by Letters Patent 1. A hingedcoupling consisting of a socket, suit-ably slotted in one side toreceive a pivot, and a split or forked pivot engaging said socket; saidsocket and pivot having suitable projection and means for attachmentsubstantially as described.

2. A hinged coupling consisting of a socket enlarged at the bottom, andslotted in one side to receive a pivot and having a suitable projectionfor attachment; and a pivot split or forked and arranged to fit into andengage said socket substantiallyas described and for the purposes setforth.

A hinged coupling consisting of a socket enlarged at the bottom thereof,and a pivot engaging said socket,each having a projection suitable forattachment; said socket slotted upon one side to receive said pivot; aportion of said pivot flattened and formed into two elastic forksfitting into said socket substantially as described and for the purposesset forth.

4. A hinged coupling consisting of a socket enlarged at the bottomthereof, and a pivot fitting therein, said socket and pivot havingsuitable projections for attachment; said socket having a slot on oneside to receive said pivot; said pivot having slightly elastic forks, aflange and apron, all substantially as described and for the purposesset'forth.

5. A hingccoupling consisting of a cylindrical-formed part withprojection for attachment and asocket therein enlarged at the bottomthereof, a slot in the side to receive a pivot, and a pivot engagingsaid socket, a flange, a portion of said pivot split into an elasticfork, and apron covering and to cover said slots, substantially asdescribed and for the purposes set forth.

6. A round or cylindrical part having a suitable projection forattachment, an inverted conical socket therein, a slot in the sidethereof, said socket engaging a split pivot, having elastic forksfitting in said socket, and an apron engaging said round or cylindricalpart, a flange or shoulder, and projection for attachment; forming ahinge-coupling, all substantially as described and for the purposes setforth.

HAMLINE JANES CHAMBERS.

\Vitnesses:

GEORGE JACOBS, PAUL O. CYLEsWoRTH.

